PARING. 451 



Subfamily PARING, ok TITS. 



The Tits and their allies are a group of little birds, connected with the 

 Turdinae through the Accentors, and with the Sylviinse through the Gold- 

 crests. From both these subfamilies they are distinguished by their 

 conical bills with no dental notch. From the former they are further 

 distinguished by their scutellated tarsi, and from the latter by their single 

 moult. Though they resemble the Laniinse in many points, the deep 

 tooth in the bill of the latter is a sufficient mark of distinction. It is a 

 much more difficult matter to separate the Tits from the Crows. The 

 latter appear to be a distinct group of birds, which, like the Warblers, moult 

 in spring as well as iu autumn. In other respects the Tits are remarkably 

 like miniature Crows. Sharpe attempts to define the two groups by 

 supposing that in the latter the chin-angle is produced before the line 

 of the nostrils, whilst in the former it only reaches as far as the line of 

 the anterior margin of the nasal suture. I confess I am quite unable to 

 perceive any constant difference in this respect, and am obliged to take 

 refuge iu the unscientific character of size, and diagnose the Corviuje as 

 always bigger than Sparrows and the Parinie as always less. 



The Parinse are almost cosmopolitan. They are found throughout the 

 Palfearctic, Ncarctic, and Oriental Regions, and more sparingly in the 

 Neotropical, JSthiopian, and Australian Regions. They number about 

 three hundred species and subspecies, of which about thirty are found on 

 the continent of Europe. Of these, half have occurred in the British 

 Islands, belonging to nine genera, which may be distinguished as follows : — 



a. Bill short, not so long as the tarsus. 



a\ Tail graduated, outside tail-feathers less than halt the length of 

 the longest. 

 a-. Bill yellow, the feathers on the side of the throat elongated 



into a moustache Panxjeus. 



V-. Bill Hack ; no moustachial feathers Acbbdula. 



V-. Tail nearly even. 



(?. Nostrils covered with feathers. 



a?. Bill stout, the height at the nostrils about half the 



length Pabtjs. 



V. Bill slender, the height at the nostrils about one eighth 



the length Ke&ulus. 



d?. Nostrils bare. 



cl Bastard primary more than half the length of the 



second TjaoGLODYTES. 



2g2 



